The cherished black truffle is at times referred to as; “the black diamond”, “the diamond of the kitchen”, “black Périgord truffle” or more technically in Latin, the Tuber (lump) Melanosporuma. The truffle is a part of the fungi family. The truffles grow underground very close to tree roots (mostly oak). The fungi develops a close, intertwined relationship with their neighbours, the trees. The truffle benefits from the tree’s root system with a consistent supply of carbohydrates. The tree benefits by technically having a larger root surface and as such more ability to absorb minerals and water.
There are actually hundreds of types of truffles. This type of tuber has been a recognized as an exclusive gourmand cooking ingredient since the 18th century in France. Truffles are also popular in the cuisines of Spain, Italy and some other southern Mediterranean countries. World-wide production is almost all from Europe. Although, French production has dropped considerably over the last century, it is still the leader at approximately 45% of the global total. Within France the southeast (Provence, Dauphine and Languedoc) make up 80% of that total. The truffle grows all year but generally they are harvested and available for purchase from November to March. Black and white truffles are big business, depending on region, month, size, smell, weight and many other factors these gourmand ingredients can trade for hundreds of Euros a kilogram.
The third Sunday in January is a very auspicious date in Provence. This is the day is the Fete de Saint Antoine or Messe des Truffes (The Truffle Mass). The opportunity to witness the blessing of truffles in a church ceremony, followed by a public auction is well worth the effort. On January 16th, we headed to Richerenches to see what it was all about. For nineteen years now this event has taken place in this small village in Vaucluse, France. The truffle farmers (rabissers) in the congregation donated a total of 4.5 kilograms of black truffles. After the Truffle Mass, the Confrerie de la Truffe (the brotherhood of the harvesters), led the congregation and several hundred observers, including media to the centre of the town. These little black gourmand treasures were then auctioned off, in a live auction at the Hotel de Ville, the auction tally for the day was over 5000 Euros, all donated to the church.
How are truffles found? Both dogs and pigs have been used for hundreds of years in Italy and France for finding truffles. The female pigs have an innate ability to smell the “black gold”, that requires no training (the smell is similar to a hormone emitted by the boar). The problem with hogs is that they LOVE truffles and it can be a fight to see if the pig or the rabassier (harvester) gets the fungi first. The dogs need to be trained to sniff out the prized truffles, using methods similar to K9 police dog training. They are not interested in eating the truffles, just the hunt.
We followed our experience in January (Truffle Mass) with a visit in February to a working plantation in Valensole. We wanted to round out our understanding of how truffles are produced, discovered and sold. Our hosts currently have five dogs of different ages. Their personal training methodology uses voice and hand commands, no collars or leads. The dogs are trained to work in from the puppy stage, with both the human trainer and the older dogs. By the age of two, the young dog is usually ready to work with one partner in the field. It is incredible to see these animals work, they are able to pick up the scent of a truffle whether it is at the depth of a couple centimeters or much deeper. They start digging in the spot and then back off to allow the harvester to dig out the prize. If need be they are called back to give some further direction, digging softly with one paw. The dogs are rewarded when the truffle is unearthed.
Do not think for a second that this is an easy trade. The prized black truffles mature in the coldest, darkest months of the year (November-February), so rain or shine the dogs and owner need to go out in the fields. Then there is marketing, sales work, packaging, planning, pruning and a careful guard against predators of both the animal and human varieties.
We were very fortunate to have a beautiful day for our visit, a good harvest and more than anything a fabulous lunch. We tasted three different truffles all found the same morning and all with very distinct flavours. Then we had scrambled eggs with black truffles, a salad with beets and black truffles and finally chicken with a black truffle sauce. So our conclusion is black truffles are in fact black gold.
Tags: truffles